The Wiesbaden Dialogue
In Wiesbaden yesterday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel made clear the Nord Stream pipeline would be ultimately constructed, while Russia’s President Vladimir Putin confirmed he would go to Iran to meet its president and attempt to sort out the nuclear clashes with the West.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin arrived at the Petersburg Dialog Forum closer to the end. The event was chaired by Mikhail Gorbachev, once the president of the former USSR, who delivered his speech after Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel showed up at the forum. As usual, Gorbachev wasn’t specific, but he emphasized that the relations of Russia and Germany are vital for both states and that Germany should understand it as well as Russia.
Putin gave much more details, although the better part of them related to the remote past. He first recalled the history of relations of Russia and Germany, including the Tsar family and Russia’s genius writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, but skipped nowadays and focused on the nearest future.
Speaking about the “renewed political course of Russia,” Putin said Russia “will have anther power configuration” after the presidential elections of March 2008. “Other people will come,” the president explained to avoid rumors about the forthcoming end of the presidential government in the country.
Later in Wiesbaden, Putin confirmed he would go ahead with a planned visit to Iran on Tuesday, specifying that they would deliberate on the nuclear row of Iran with the West in Tehran. “I’m going to Iran, of course. If I always listened to and followed the recommendations of my security service, I would never leave the house. They must do their part, and we, with Ms Merkel – our part.”
As to the German chancellor, her obvious concern yesterday was the Nord Stream project of northern Europe’s pipeline. Nord Stream will be constructed no matter what, Merkel made clear for the first time.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 16, 2007
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